Bescot Banter columnist Sam Wright previews Tuesday evening's trip to npower League One rivals Carlisle United;
After our draw against Brentford on Saturday, our quest to keep our slim playoff hopes alive takes us to Carlisle United this Tuesday in another important game.
The goalless draw on the weekend saw us move back above Notts County into ninth, and nine points off the playoffs with twelve games left to play before the end of what in all has been a better season than most expected for us. However we face a different kind of test with Carlisle, as many would say we are favourites to bring back three points from Brunton Park, a situation we have not been used to many times this season.
Carlisle are currently in sixteenth position, nine points clear of the relegation zone after drawing their last two games. They have struggled to score goals consistently this season, with top goal scorer Garner only managing eight in all competitions this season. More than anything, their slightly subdued season can be put down to inconsistency, summed up by their 2013 run so far, winning, losing and drawing three games of the nine they played since the turn of the year.
When we met earlier in the season in the home fixture we lost to a last minute goal, and it turned out to be a sign of things to come, and was the second game of a sixteen game losing streak, hopefully the away fixture won’t lead to a similar downfall. However this was a rare blip against the Cumbrians, we have in fact lost just fifteen of the fifty two games when the two sides have met, winning 20. The stat book also indicated we can expect a close game, since 1990 only on one occasion has this fixture been decided by more than one goal.
Overall I can see this being a very close game, but as long as the players do not let the fact that we’ve drawn two in a row and are falling away from the top six get to them I see no reason why we cannot snatch the point. The focus surely has to be to go out and get a goal, and hopefully the defence will make sure their poor goal scoring form will continue. I will take a shot at a 1-0 win for the Saddlers, with Grigg to bag his twelfth goal of the season in the first half.
By: Sam Wright
After our draw against Brentford on Saturday, our quest to keep our slim playoff hopes alive takes us to Carlisle United this Tuesday in another important game.The goalless draw on the weekend saw us move back above Notts County into ninth, and nine points off the playoffs with twelve games left to play before the end of what in all has been a better season than most expected for us. However we face a different kind of test with Carlisle, as many would say we are favourites to bring back three points from Brunton Park, a situation we have not been used to many times this season.
Carlisle are currently in sixteenth position, nine points clear of the relegation zone after drawing their last two games. They have struggled to score goals consistently this season, with top goal scorer Garner only managing eight in all competitions this season. More than anything, their slightly subdued season can be put down to inconsistency, summed up by their 2013 run so far, winning, losing and drawing three games of the nine they played since the turn of the year.
When we met earlier in the season in the home fixture we lost to a last minute goal, and it turned out to be a sign of things to come, and was the second game of a sixteen game losing streak, hopefully the away fixture won’t lead to a similar downfall. However this was a rare blip against the Cumbrians, we have in fact lost just fifteen of the fifty two games when the two sides have met, winning 20. The stat book also indicated we can expect a close game, since 1990 only on one occasion has this fixture been decided by more than one goal.
Overall I can see this being a very close game, but as long as the players do not let the fact that we’ve drawn two in a row and are falling away from the top six get to them I see no reason why we cannot snatch the point. The focus surely has to be to go out and get a goal, and hopefully the defence will make sure their poor goal scoring form will continue. I will take a shot at a 1-0 win for the Saddlers, with Grigg to bag his twelfth goal of the season in the first half.
By: Sam Wright